It was a relaxing meal filled with sentiment for the all the good times and the uncertainty ahead. Jim and I then attempted to find some swimming trunks in the shopping district of Jeju-si, but apparently the only type of swimming gear they have available is ridiculously small and tight speedos.
We left Jim and said our final farewells, as Brian, Goun, and I got into a taxi headed for the beach.
One of the better beaches in the Jeju-si area is Hamdeok. It is a little more out of the way, but worth it, for those who want a relaxing and scenic beach to enjoy.
When we arrived, we were looking for some other friends who had come earlier, but having seen no one, we started walking down towards the shore.
There is a small restaurant the overlooks one section of the beach; the perfect spot for chilling with a cold drink in the shade. We made our way down along the rocks and crossed over to the longer section of beach on the west end.
There was a tent setup near the rocks that was renting out kayak gear, most of their customers were sticking rather close to the shore though. When I think of kayaks, I am reminded of all the adventures I've gone on with my family back home; my uncle owns and operates a sea-kayaking business, which is always great fun whenever I go out with him.
To pass the time, Goun and I started making some signs in the sand; she started with a square and I later added the circle wave symbol that is in middle of the Korean flag. Next I made a silhouette of Jeju island with its name in Hangeul.
Brian and Goun were both amused with my efforts, but like everything in this life, with time it will all be washed away.
After playing a bit more in the sand and enjoying the sun with a beer in my hand, I came up with the brilliant idea to make a sand replica of Jeju island. We started with Halla mountain and worked our way outwards, constructing our masterpiece.
We probably spent about thirty minutes or so working on this thing. I even built a tiny World Cup Stadium, Yeongsil trail, and of course all the offshore islets. Some Koreans even came by and complimented us, taking a picture of our little creation.
When we had finished, I filmed a little helicopter tour of the island with my flip.
It was at this point in time that Naomi finally returned our calls and we found out that all the other foreigners were on the opposite end of the beach; I was having fun just playing in the sand, but I thought I'd check out the others to see what they were up to.
Walking back towards the other end, I got an incredible view of the shore from the hill above.
When I walked down some steps towards the other side of the beach, I found a lot larger foreigner crew than I had expected; I knew a few of them, but most were unfamiliar faces. I guess everyone had the same idea to come to the beach on our day off.
Naomi convinced me to play beersby: a combination of frisbee and beer drinking. Rules are that you must be holding a beer in your hand, or something as a placeholder. You stand behind this line and try and knock off you opponent's team bottle from a wooden stand. It's a lot harder than it looks, but fun to play.
It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, and sure beats teaching during the week; too bad this couldn't be my job.
No comments:
Post a Comment